Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition free for Xbox Live Gold subscribers in September

By Danny Cowan August 26, 2015

tomb raider de free via xbox live gold in september trde gwg header — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The revamped Xbox One version of Crystal Dynamics’ Tomb Raider will be available as a free download in September for Xbox Live Gold subscribers as part of the ongoing Games With Gold program, Microsoft announced this week.

Released in 2013, Tomb Raider tells series protagonist Lara Croft’s origin story, and features survival-oriented gameplay in addition to franchise-standard shooting and environmental traversal mechanics. Xbox Live Gold members will receive a graphically overhauled version, Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, which launched last year.

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The Xbox One version of The Deer God will also debut as a free download for Xbox Live Gold subscribers in September. Previously released for PC platforms via Steam, The Deer God is a 3D action game featuring a unique pixelated aesthetic. Assuming the role of a deer, players must fight to survive in the harsh wilderness, fulfilling quests and reincarnating into different animals as a dark storyline unfolds.

The Deer God is first up on Microsoft’s Games With Gold release schedule, arriving as a free download on September 1 and returning to full price on September 30. Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition will be freely downloadable for service subscribers between September 16 and October 15.

Xbox 360 owners, meanwhile, will get a free copy of Eidos’ aerial and naval combat sim Battlestations: Pacific. Originally released in 2009, Battlestations: Pacific features a pair of single-player campaigns that alternately cast players as the American or Japanese forces during World War II.

The game also includes a selection of online and offline multiplayer modes. Battlestations: Pacific will be available as a free download from September 1 through September 15.

Developer Crytek wraps up this month’s Games with Gold lineup with its 2013 Xbox 360 first-person shooter Crysis 3. Equipping players with a Nanosuit that enables superhuman abilities like enhanced strength and invisibility, Crysis 3 offers a post-apocalyptic single-player campaign and eight different multiplayer modes.

Crysis 3 will be up for grabs as part of the Games with Gold program from September 16 through the end of the month.

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Danny’s passion for video games was ignited upon his first encounter with Nintendo’s Duck Hunt, and years later, he still…

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Final Xbox Live Gold games include a free hidden gem worth downloading

Blue Fire's main character runs on a wall.

Microsoft revealed the final two games that will be available for free as part of the Games with Gold program for Xbox Live Gold. The service isn't really going out with a bang, but one of the games is a solid Souls-inspired indie platformer that's worth a download as Games with Gold's swan song.

The two games Microsoft will give away are Level 91 Entertainment's Inertial Drift and Robi Studios' Blue Fire. Inertial Drift is a vibrant, neon-infused arcade racer with unique twin-stick controls that players have to master in order to steer and drift properly. Racing game fans should get a kick out of it, but the game to really care about in this final batch is Blue Fire.
Blue Fire is a 3D platformer, but it takes more inspiration from the likes of Dark Souls and Hollow Knight than Super Mario 64. While it's a pretty fast-paced platformer with a satisfying dash move at its core, it makes players platform through pretty dark and moody settings that interconnect like Dark Souls areas do. The game also sometimes places emphasis on combat, which is usually a bad sign in platformers, fights can actually sometimes be pretty tough and satisfying in Blue Fire.

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Your Xbox Live Gold subscription will turn into Xbox Game Pass Core this September

Microsoft finally made the decision to move on from its monthly online-access subscription service Xbox Live Gold. On September 14, Xbox Live Gold will transform into Xbox Game Pass Core, with current Gold subscribers automatically gaining a Game Pass Core subscription.

An Xbox Live subscription tied to online play has existed in some form since Xbox Live launched in 2002, but Xbox Live Gold as we now know it truly came into form in July 2013 when Microsoft started the Games with Gold program that gave subscribers free games each month in addition to that online access. Although Microsoft rolled back some online restrictions in 2021, Games with Gold continues to this day. That will all end when Game Pass Core launches.

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Tomb Raider returns as a mobile roguelike via Netflix

tomb raider reloaded release date

Tomb Raider Reloaded, a roguelike mobile game based on Crystal Dynamics' long-running series, has been unveiled ahead of its release on iOS, Android, and Netflix on February 14.
Tomb Raider Reloaded is Coming Soon - Register Now!
Tomb Raider Reloaded is a top-down action game where players control Lara Croft. She'll go from room to room, defeating enemies and solving puzzles in each one. In typical roguelike fashion, Croft will get more powerful over time as players level up, obtain XP modifiers, find stat-boosting Runes and Perks, and craft weapons and outfits. Lara will be voiced by Keeley Hawes, who portrayed her in games like Tomb Raider: Anniversary and Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, rather than Camilla Luddington, who played Lara Croft in Crystal Dynamics' rebooted trilogy.
This announcement comes on the heels of Amazon making a large investment in the Tomb Raider franchise. Amazon Game Studios will publish the Unreal Engine 5-powered Tomb Raider game in development at Crystal Dynamics and is developing TV shows and movies connected to the game. Amazon is not involved with the release of this mobile game, though, as developer Emerald City Games and Embracer Group-owned publisher CDE Entertainment are handling it. Regardless, 2023 has been the busiest year for Lara Croft in a while.
The game will be available normally on iOS and Android, but Netflix subscribers can also download a version of the game that doesn't have any in-game ads or microtransactions. The release of Tomb Raider Reloaded will come right on the heels of the launch of Valiant Hearts: Coming Home, another Netflix mobile game based on a notable console game.